Pray for the Nations - Step #1 The World

One thing I've committed to do this year is to pray for the nations - every continent, every country, every people group. I will keep myself on track using the Operation World book shown above, and I will journal about each country as I go. Throughout the year, I also plan to blog about each nation as I pray - maybe one at a time or maybe a few all at once. I'm doing this not to gloat upon myself, but rather to encourage you to be in prayer with me for our world.

As the year draws on, I would challenge you, my dear readers, to also be in prayer for the nations. Every day, every hour, every minute we are that much closer to the end. While it is nearly impossible for each one of us to travel to every country witnessing about the love of our Lord, prayer is possible. Prayer is powerful, and it is one of our most vital weapons against Satan and the power of darkness in this world.

We're only 14 days into the new year, and already I am feeling blessed through the prayers I've offered up for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I've learned so much already about the world around me through the information provided in Operation World. I'm feeling more and more encouraged about the world around me rather than focusing on the negative that surrounds me via the news, internet, and other media sources.

The first section of prayer begins with generalized prayer for THE WORLD. Some of the information that sticks out to me about the prayer needed for our world are as follows:

• Praises:
• Currently there are Christians in every nation.
• Increased ministry efforts have lead to growth of evangelical Christianity.
• God is alive and still works in the world on a regular basis.
• Concerns for Prayer:
• 24-27% of the world's population have not heard the gospel presented in a meaningful way.
• Traditional Christians need an understanding of thorough repentance, personal faith, and a relationship with Christ.
• Christians need to serve others with passion and urgency to spread the gospel with an authentic Biblical love for people. 
• Conflict in the Middle East
• "Wars"
• terrorism
• human trafficking
• drug wars
• globalized spread of disease
• 1 in 6 people lack access to clean water.
• Need for discipleship, church leaders and an outward focus to share the gospel.
• 41% of humanity is counted in the Least reached or unreached category - they are isolated from witnessing Christians and usually difficult to reach.